Brock Beauchamp

The 2025 season saw the Boston Red Sox's pitching development finally pay off in a big way, as their young pitchers helped get the team through the final month of the season and back into the postseason for the first time since 2021. One of those pitchers was Connelly Early, a 2023 fifth-round draft pick. Early, who made his MLB debut in September, pitched admirably down the stretch as he made four starts and struck out 29 batters in 19 1/3 innings. He walked just four and allowed five earned runs; his performance led manager Alex Cora to hand him the ball as the starting pitcher in the win-or-go-home game three of the Wild Card series. Prior to that, Early split 2025 between Portland and Worcester, going 10-3 with a 2.60 ERA in 21 games, 18 of them starts. He threw 100 1/3 innings in that span and struck out 132 batters. Early, who throws from the first-base side of the rubber, has some effort in his delivery but manages to repeat it with a consistent release point. Like most pitchers that the Red Sox have targeted in the past few years, he also has plus extension during his release. Early relies on a five-pitch arsenal that is made up of a fastball, changeup, slider, curveball and sweeper. His fastball, while averaging just 92-95 mph, topped out at 97 mph and there was an increase in velocity from 2024 that saw the pitch sitting in the low-90s. It has shown more bat-missing ability as he runs up the radar gun, but it's always been designed to help set up his changeup. That off-speed offering is an above-average pitch thanks to having arm-side run and his low release height. Typically in the mid-80s, he uses a kick-changeup grip and has advanced feel in the pitch, as he throws it often to both left-handed and right-handed batters. When at its best, the pitch will tumble out of the zone, generating whiffs. His slider averaged 84-87 mph in 2025 and he’s able to land it in the zone. Despite that, it doesn’t miss many bats and is instead used to generate weak contact from opposing batters. His curveball tends to sit in the low-80s at best and has more vertical break. It isn’t consistent, however, sometimes flashing plus movement and other times wobbling toward the plate. Both breakers have above-average qualities but aren't considered in that realm just yet. His sweeper is his newest pitch, having started working on it in 2024, and it improved as the season went on. It averaged around 80-83 mph and is mainly used against left-handed batters. Much like the curveball, it can show bat-missing ability, but he needs to gain more consistency with it in terms of landing it in and around the strike zone. Entering the 2026 season, Early is seen as a mid-rotation starter who flashes the upside of a number two or three starter. If he can gain consistency on his three weaker pitchers, that ceiling could rise. The biggest question mark for Early so far is if he can keep the velocity up as he goes deeper into games and across an entire season. The fact he can throw three to four pitches for strikes consistently helps his case in the immediate term. While many would love to see Early in Boston to open the year, due to their depth the team acquired over the offseason, he is likely headed to Worcester. If the Red Sox keep Early in Worcester for five weeks to open the season, they’ll gain an extra year of control on Early. This would keep him from becoming a free agent until after his age-30 season, something that could change rotation plans down the road. Regardless of where Early starts the season, he’ll be up in Boston as one of the first pitching-related promotions and will end up playing a huge role in how the 2026 season goes down.

Bleis has been a mainstay on top prospect rankings for the Red Sox since he was acquired as an IFA in 2021, but his time to make good on that distinction is quickly ticking away. He has the potential of a standout outfielder but, so far, has failed to put it all together to make much of an impression. He’s dealt with injuries in every season of his pro career and is flirting with carrying the dreaded ‘chronically injured’ designation that every player hopes to avoid. Putting together a healthy and productive 2026 would go a long way toward establishing him as a player to watch moving forward, but his hit tool is so streaky that it’s incredibly hard to project how impactful he’s going to be moving forward. He’s eligible to be taken in the Rule 5 draft this coming December, so if there’s any indication he’s progressing, the team is either going to have to trade him away or protect him on the 40-man roster if they don’t want to risk him being selected with no compensation in return.

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What is there left to say about Tolle at this point? The mustachioed 23-year-old rose from High-A to MLB in his first professional season, skyrocketing up both prospect rankings and the team's starting pitching depth chart. To call his potential tantalizing would be an understatement, particularly if you're dreaming upon a future rotation starring him and fellow southpaw Garrett Crochet. What he brings to the table — a 6'6" frame, elite extension, and a high-90s fastball — can't be taught. He cruised through his 20 minor-league appearances last year to the tune of a 3.04 ERA and 2.75 FIP while striking out a ridiculous 36.5% of the hitters he faced. Perhaps even more impressively, his walk rate sat at just 6.3%, suggesting a better feel for the strike zone that scouts foretold of the second-round pick. That dominance led to an earlier-than-expected MLB debut, which generated even more excitement after an electric start against the Pittsburgh Pirates. Unfortunately, he struggled after that point, surrendering nine earned runs over his next 11 innings. It would have been unreasonable to expect him to beat the best hitters in the world right away, but Tolle's specific shortcomings were really exposed in the majors. His fastball is great, and the raw numbers (96.7 mph average velocity, 28.3% whiff rate, 23.3% put-away rate) are fantastic. But he also used the pitch 64% of the time in his brief big-league stint, hence why hitters were still able to tag it for a .565 slugging percentage and .402 wOBA despite its elite shape and relatively solid command up in the zone. Meanwhile, his cutter and slider both hold very similar shapes and movement profiles, and his changeup is disastrously flat. Tolle only mustered the courage to throw that latter pitch 21 times in the big leagues (all against righties) and it was hammered to the tune of a .711 wOBA. To put it simply: Tolle throws five pitches, but only one is ready for the major leagues right now. That's why he'll open up the season at Triple-A Worcester. It's also why it wouldn't be a surprise to see him spend all of 2026 there, as he tinkers with his other offerings and learns not to be so reliant on his heater. No pitcher, no matter how good they are, can win with just one pitch. Aroldis Chapman's fastball has always had a slider to pair with; Mariano Rivera's cutter always had a two-seamer or sinker to keep hitters honest. Tolle has the physical attributes, primary offering, and know-how to be a legitimate frontline starter. In a farm system that also contains Connelly Early, Kyson Witherspoon, and Jake Bennett, he's the best prospect of the bunch. With some refinement of the skills he already he has, Tolle can become the Red Sox's next homegrown ace.

Unlike other publications, Talk Sox enables all users to contribute to our top prospect rankings. Anyone with a website account can participate and give their input on who they think should be in the top prospects list. Before you vote, you can hit our top prospects page for the latest stats and news on prospects, while on the voting page, every name is a clickable link that brings up their current stat card. Voting is simple, just follow the instructions below! Here's the rundown on how to participate: 1. You must have an account and be logged in to vote. If you don't have an account, click here. It requires only 60 seconds to create an account. 2. Review our current top 20 prospect list, catch up on stats, rankings, etc. (you can do so from the voting page link below) 3. Have your prospect list in your filthy little paws? Then flip on over to the new prospect voting page (after reading the rest of this, please). https://talksox.com/prospect-voting 4. Voting is super simple; you drag and drop players in the order you wish them to be. After you move a prospect, the list automatically renumbers so you don't lose track of the order. This works on mobile devices, but it's a *vastly* better experience on desktop. Sorry, that's just how this kind of thing works. There's no excellent way to make something like this as awesome on a phone screen. 5. Each prospect has a comment section where you can add any commentary you have on that player. At the bottom of the list, there is a general comment section to explain overarching things you'd like to mention. 6. Don't see a prospect you want to put on the list? Just pop back here and give me a mention (in a comment, start typing @Brock Beauchamp and select my name after it appears). Please mention the prospect you would like added, and I will do so as soon as possible. 7. Once you're done with all of it, click Save. You've now voted! 8. When the voting closes, a new thread will automatically generate in this forum with all of your rankings and comments for everyone to read and talk about. 9. You can only vote once. If you have voted in error, pop back here and tag Brock, asking to have your vote deleted. It will be removed, and you can vote again. Voting closes Thursday, August 28.

Garcia signed as an international free agent out of Venezuela in 2019 for a bonus of $350,000. Over four seasons, he has played in 256 games across four levels, compiling a .259/.356/.462 slash line. He didn't make his full-season debut until 2023, and it wasn't until the 2024 season when The Password finally unlocked the potential the Red Sox development and scouting teams saw in him. Splitting the season between Salem, Greenville, and Portland, Garcia played in a career-high 107 games, slashing .286/.356/.536 over 459 plate appearances. Garcia set career-highs in nearly every offensive category and looks primed to start the season in Portland, though his stay there could be short if his performance stays consistent. Below are his 2024 stats. What to Like: Garcia is officially listed at 6'0" and 163 pounds, but he's already added plenty of muscle to his sturdy frame. FanGraphs has him listed at 6'2" and 220. He's known for his plus bat speed and he has improved against secondary pitches. His natural ability to backspin the ball results in plus raw power that should translate to games. He's already demonstrated high-end exit velocities, which helped him lead the Red Sox minor league system with 23 home runs in 2024. What to Work On: Garcia’s great power is accompanied by an extremely aggressive approach. His plus bat speed comes with a long swing, and his game involves a lot of swing-and-miss. In an encouraging sign, he ran a 24% strikeout rate in Salem, which dropped to 22% in Greenville and 19% in Portland. His walk rate also plummeted at each stop, so it remains to be seen whether he has fixed something or simply managed to put some more balls in play. He’ll be tested by the faster velocity of the upper minors. Despite the improvements that Garcia made during the 2024 season, it’s clear that the 21-year-old still has more room to grow. Originally a shortstop as an amateur, Garcia moved to the outfield, and although he's primarily played center, he seems destined for a corner outfield spot, so his bat will need to shine. What’s next: Garcia ended the season with a 30-game stint in Portland, where he put up a .263/.320/.386 slash line and a 103 wRC+ over 126 plate appearances. There’s a chance he could end up as a non-roster invitee during spring training, but he'll likely begin the 2025 season back in Portland. A promotion to Worcester should not be out of the question for Garcia next year, and it will be interesting to see whether the Red Sox view him as a piece of the future or a key addition to a trade either over the offseason or during the 2025 season.